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Qwest Raising Pay Phone Rates Again
Calls Jump To 50 Cents Around The 14-State Region
Callers digging for coins to use a Qwest Communications pay phone will have to dig a little deeper beginning Tuesday when the rate rises from 35 cents to 50 cents a call.
The company said that maintenance costs have been rising in the last five years, but the popularity of wireless phones, calling cards and toll-free numbers have chopped local pay phone use by 50 percent.
?Qwest continues to provide high-quality customer service and public pay phones are an important component when providing a complete line of communications products for all of our customers,? said Greg Fallin, vice president of public access solutions at Qwest. ?We recognize that many people rely on pay phones for a secure and reliable connection and this change will allow us to continue to provide this service.?
Major cities will have pay phones switched to the new rate by
computer. It will be about three to four months before all 96,000
of Qwest's pay phones in the company's 14-state local service
territory are switched.
Emergency 911 calls will still be free.
The rate increase is the second in five years.
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The company said that maintenance costs have been rising in the last five years, but the popularity of wireless phones, calling cards and toll-free numbers have chopped local pay phone use by 50 percent.
?Qwest continues to provide high-quality customer service and public pay phones are an important component when providing a complete line of communications products for all of our customers,? said Greg Fallin, vice president of public access solutions at Qwest. ?We recognize that many people rely on pay phones for a secure and reliable connection and this change will allow us to continue to provide this service.?
Major cities will have pay phones switched to the new rate by
computer. It will be about three to four months before all 96,000
of Qwest's pay phones in the company's 14-state local service
territory are switched.
Emergency 911 calls will still be free.
The rate increase is the second in five years.
- May 11, 2001: Qwest Getting Back Into Long Distance
- May 2, 2001: Qwest Ordered To Refund $11.2 Million
- March 1, 2001: Qwest Raising Rates On 411 Information Calls
Copyright 2002 by TheDenverChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
